Best knots for
Climbing
Climbing knots hold people, so they are chosen for security and for how easy they are to check by eye. Learn them from an instructor; use this page to revise.
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Hitches
Cow Hitch
A bight of rope dropped round a rail with both legs pulled through it.
●○○ Easy -
Stopper knots
Double Overhand Knot
An overhand knot with one extra turn.
●○○ Easy -
Stopper knots
Figure-Eight Knot
The standard stopper.
●○○ Easy -
Loops
Figure-Eight Loop
A Figure-Eight Knot tied in a doubled rope.
●○○ Easy -
Bends
Flat Overhand Bend
The two ends held together and tied as one in an overhand knot.
●○○ Easy -
Bends
Water Knot
An overhand knot in one end, followed back through in reverse by the other end.
●○○ Easy -
Loops
Bowline with Stopper
A bowline with its tail tied in an overhand knot round the leg of the eye beside it, so the bowline cannot shake loose when it is not loaded..
●●○ Intermediate -
Loops
Double Englishman’s Loop
The Englishman’s Loop tied with double overhands.
●●○ Intermediate -
Bends
Double Fisherman’s Knot
Each rope ties a double overhand round the other.
●●○ Intermediate -
Hitches
Italian Hitch
A hitch on a carabiner or bar that lets rope run under control.
●●○ Intermediate -
Hitches
Klemheist Knot
A friction hitch tied with a loop of cord or tape.
●●○ Intermediate -
Hitches
Prusik Knot
A loop of thinner cord wrapped round a rope.
●●○ Intermediate -
Loops
Round Turn Bowline
A bowline with the small loop taken twice round.
●●○ Intermediate -
Loops
Threaded Figure-Eight Loop
The Figure-Eight Loop tied round something you cannot drop a loop over, such as a harness, a tree or a ring: tie a single figure-eight, pass the end round, and trace it back through the knot..
●●○ Intermediate